Inventory and..My first mistake :(

I did the inventory on all the hardware today, that was an additional 2 hours of Inventory work. But well worth it to know everything was there and it helped give me an idea of what I have to purchase a storage solutions sometime in the future. The parts list helps out a ton, it gives you the part number (for reordering when you mess up) and the build plans section it is in to match unmarked parts with diagram pictures.

 

After I finished the inventory I moved on to start building something!! The plans called for match drilling a doubler plate to the front spar of the vertical stabilizer, VS, then trimming the spar to match the doubler.

That all went smooth, then I had to dimple the metal for flush rivets. So i had to put together my C-Frame DRDT dimpler and the pneumatic squeezer. I have never used either so i ran a few test dimples in the metal I had cut off the front spar. One of the dimples is from the squeezer and the other 2 are from the DRDT, I couldn't tell a difference and they all looked properly set. So I figured I would use booth tools and see what I liked better.

The squeezer was faster when working with the smaller pieces so that is what I will probably use more of when I can going forward.

The plans then called for drilling some of the powder coasted brackets to the rear VS spar....This is where I messed up with the plans :( The plans say to Final Drill the #12 The rudder attach holes in the VS-410PP, VS-411PP, and VS-412PP Hinge Brackets as shown in figure 1. Figure 1 points to VS-410PP and says Final Drill #12, 6 places. VS-410PP has 6 holes total, 5 of which attach it to the spar. This is were I started to get confused, Final Drill #12 The Rudder attach holes, the VS41-PP brackets attach to the spar and have 6 holes, Figure 1 says 6 places. So I drilled booth brackets to the spar. When I was done I looked at the holes and knew this was wrong, they are way to big for the size of rivets I just inventoried.

After reviewing the plans more carefully they say Final Drill #12 the RUDDER attach holes, I drilled the brackets VS attach holes, the Rudder attach holes are the 1 hole at the end of the bracket...6 brackets = 6 holes. After a call to Vans I decided it was better to reorder parts rather than try and shoot 3/16 rivets into my extra large holes.

I only had about 40 minutes left to work for the night so I moved on and did a few of the next small, fluted a couple of flanges that were twisted.

Inventory 2 Hours, Vertical Stabilizer 2 Hours